[EDITOR’S NOTE: Normally we don’t post unsolicited pieces, but when reader Jason Newman sent us his take on the new Amazon “Go Indie” project, we thought it was pretty funny, and worth passing along. Enjoy! Take it away, Jason…]

Amazon recently partnered with 30 record labels to release 700 albums, 150 of which will be sold for $9.99. As Universal Music Group will tell you between tears, lowering the price of a CD doesn’t necessarily mean higher sales, but it’s still a smart move on Amazon’s part to expose certain albums to people who liked “that weird music on the Garden State soundtrack.”

But wait!

Digging a little deeper, something didn’t sit well. You have your Shins, your Pavements, and your Interpols, sure. But the list contains some unusual choices as to what constitutes “indie” these days.

Kris Kristofferson – This Old Road
What’s he doing here? Kristofferson was born in 1854, at a time when “independent music” meant a man in Kentucky playing a fiddle alone on a hill.

Ministry of Sound – The Annual 2007
Various Artists – Ultra Dance 07
Armin van Buuren – State of Trance 2006
To indie rock fans, State of Trance 2006 might as well be State of Jugband 2006 or State of Ragtime 2006. And Ministry of Sound? Can you still be an “indie” label while running numerous clubs around the world, hosting international TV and radio shows and having your label head worth nearly $200 million? According to Amazon, hey, sure, why not?

Ace Frehley – Greatest Hits Live
As you may or may not know, Ace Frehley is the guitarist for KISS.

Rough Guide – Bhangra Dance, Latin Arabia, Bollywood
Don’t you hate getting all excited to check out some up-and-coming buzz band, only to be constantly bothered at the show by people deciding which Latin restaurant or Bhangra club they want to hit up afterwards?

Various Artists – Indiana Jones Trilogy
Despite the obvious indie cred that songs like “The Mine Car Chase,” “The Ark Trek,” and “Indy’s First Adventure” have garnered over the years (Sorry, Sufjan, all those titles are copyrighted), this selection was undoubtedly made by a Chinese robot scanning through all of Amazon’s titles and putting in anything containing the word “Indi.”

—-

Thanks, Jason! We checked out the list, and it is truly bizarre. What’s your favorite oddity?